A Time Of Need
by zebra3tripes
Summary: Hunt. Breathe. Eat. Flower lives in a colony where everybody is the same. Well, mostly. She meets a cat, a strange cat. Maybe that cat could change her life. For the better. (This is a fanfiction based on warriors)
1. Prologue

The kit sat crouched the cold ground, Batting at the leaves with his small paw. The bright moon began to rise, and a chilly breeze ruffled his pelt.

''Darling? Come inside now,'' He heard his mother's soft purr. Without hesitation, he left the leaves and padded into the den.

His siblings were playing with her moving tail, a game that had once amused him as well. Though the same age, he felt drawn to the chirping birds and adventure of the outdoors. The kit was not like his brothers who consumed most of their time mewing for food with nothing important to do. Not that he did either.

The wind whispered into his ears, inviting to go outside, but instead, he curled against the bed of moss and feathers. Soon he felt the others quiet down. Relaxing into a deep sleep. The pawsteps of his mother leaving the den he could not hear, nor the explanation why. All the kit heard was the last words before she left.

''Sleep well, my kits.''


	2. Chapter 1

Flower sat crouched in the front of the hollow. The border patrol had just returned and her parents were sharing a rabbit in the middle of the camp.

_Do they even care about me? _She padded back into the nursery hidden in the grass. Another kit lay there, Ice was his name. A cat found him wandering in the forest, he was only three moons old then.

Enough of that. Flower counted her collection of feathers in the corner. Wait, one was missing. With a quick glance around the small den, she saw her feather poking out under the moss. She pulled at it and realised that the tabby kit was laying on it. Should have had a better plan.

''Huh? Oh, hey.'' Ice purred at her. Flower said nothing but narrowed her eyes at him. The kits stared in silence at each other. Ice dropped his gaze and stared at his paws. ''Why don't you ever talk?'' He questioned quietly.

Fernfeather walked into the nursery.''Play nicely together! What is matter with you Flower?'' She picked her daughter by the scruff and laid her down into the nest, with Flower mewing in objection.

''But he stole..-'' Fernfeather rasped her tongue on her head to calm her. ''Oh Flower, just leave him be.'' Both cats looked in his direction.

Ice was sitting near the exit of the den, looking perplexed, and not knowing what to do.

''My kit, he has no mother or father. Please leave him alone,'' Her mother whispered. ''And speak up, no cat will take you seriously if you squeak like that!'

The camp was beginning to stir, and soon the familiar sound of cats talking to one another filled the air. A distinctive pair of voices stood out.

''I'm going to catch a vole!''

''I'll catch an even bigger one!''

That was her former denmates, Moss and Dew. They were now apprentices. Flower wondered what their names would be when Nettlestar made them into gatherers. She started to groom herself anxiously. How would it feel to be the centre of attention, in front of all those cats?

With a shudder, Flower stood up and stumbled out of the den. A puddle of clear water sat just to the right of her. She peered at the water and saw a small, black cat Look back at her. Their Bright green eyes burned with something, not rage, but something Flower could not imagine.

She blurred the mirrored image by splashing at the water with her paws. Not caring if she got wet. Flower was scared, and she knew it.


	3. Chapter 2

It had been two moons since Flower had become an apprentice. Owlstrike, her mentor, had little trouble making her concentrate on training. ''Flower! You'll scare away any mice that are around with those pawsteps!'' The senior Gatherer flicked his tail in annoyance

''Now, do you hear that?'' The grey cat twitched his ears in the direction a sound was coming from; A Thrush only four tail-lengths away.

Flower nodded. She began silently stalking, slowly but surely she was right behind the unknowing prey, and with a swift pounce, it was dead. Owlstrike nodded in approval. Even if the bird was small it was better than nothing.

With the prey safely buried in the ground, they continued their hunt. Flower padded uncertainly on the wet grass. The fields were her least favourite place to go hunting, mud squelched with every paw step.

''Owlstike? when do you think we can start battle-'' Her question was cut off by a shriek. A pair of yellow eyes flashed from the forest to her right. She stopped, unsure if she should move.

_What is that? _The eyes were now coming closer, a large orange creature stepped out. ''A Fox!'' Flower instantly remember the nursery tales. This ugly animal with a long snout looked bigger than anything she had ever seen.

Of course, she was alone though, the wet grass must have been a squelchy omen! How mouse-brained could she have been to not scent the fox before?

Flower hissed at the Fox, which only angered it more. She remained hopeful that her mentor would return, wherever he was.

''What do you want now Foxy? You want to fight?'' Flower lurched at the creature only to be surprised with the Fox clamping its jaws around her neck. _Mrrow!_

A hot, seething pain filled her whole body, as she clawed at its eyes. The Fox released her and only momentarily stopped fighting to turn and look at the trees behind her.

Cubs! The Fox had three small orange blobs looking pitifully at their battling mother. She definitely couldn't kill the fox by herself, but maybe she could scare it away?

Flower fluffed out her tail and yowled at the creature, trying to look frightening despite the size difference. ''Go! Go far away!''

It didn't seem to work. She scratched at the apprentice with dagger-sharp claws, giving her a dreadful wound. Then bit down hard on her tail, drawing blood. Flower could feel her strength melting away into nothingness.


	4. Chapter 3

Her breathes came in ragged gulps as she started sprinting towards some form of shelter. The Fox was fast on her tails, it's lithe body moving swiftly weaving the bushes and oak trees.

''Help!'' Flower ducked beneath a small fallen tree. As she looked under her paws, she realised there was a small hole in the ground, a hole just barely big enough to squirm into.

The Fox's jaws snapped behind her, and at the same moment, the black she-cat wriggled through the opening.

_Oh no! _The hole was actually a tunnel. She started crawling through but soon realised her battle with the Fox had made her frail. At least the rabid animal couldn't fit in it.

A sharp pain made her gasp. Flower craned her neck only to see half her tail was missing.

Darkness.

At first, there were only sounds. The sound of trees swaying in the wind. Then the smell of cold, crisp air.

''Where am I?''

Her frightened voice echoed in the pitch black. She sensed pawsteps approaching. Flower's heat began racing, blood pounded in her ears.

A grey and white cat came into view. She blinked a few times, realising she was no longer asleep.

Flower was still confused. She tried moving but her exhausted body disagreed. ''Don't try and move, you'll only make your injuries worse,'' The cat meowed again. Flower studied the cat. He was around the same age as her, more or less, but smelled nothing like a clan cat. His yellow eyes reminded her of the Fox.

''you were flailing around when I found you.'' Said the cat who was now chewing some kind of poultice. He walked over to Flower and rubbed it into her scapes and cuts, it hurt less now.

''Comfrey root that was. Where've my cobwebs gone now?'' The cat sniffed around the den, turning over a few small rocks with leaves underneath them. She guessed he was some kind of healer.

''Oh, right. I assume you are wondering who I am?'' Flower nodded at the cat's question. ''I'm Parsley,'' said the cat.

Flower nodded again. ''My name's Flower.'' This time, Parsley was the one who nodded. ''Okay, well, how did you get into this predicament?'' They were still in the tunnel, but with more room, and it seemed as though the strange cat lived here.

Flower explained the Fox situation, and then remembered her disappearing mentor. ''That piece of crowfood! The coward ran away as soon as saw it!'' She growled.

Flower stretched her limbs out, only seeing a wrenched claw and some scrapes. The deep cut on her side was all she worried about. With that out of the way, she continued her rambling.

Parsley listened intently to Flower. Only pausing to ask what Meadow-Clan was. Soon enough he too looked exhausted.

''Look, I'm glad you're fine. Tomorrow you'll be able to go back to your 'Clan'.'' Mewed Parsley.

Flower closed her eyes. Inviting sleep.

_Wait, I have half a tail!_

**_Hey guys, thank you for reading this story. A quick question..._**

**_Would you like longer chapters or shorter everyday ones?_**

**_Well, almost every day._**


	5. Chapter 4

It had been many sunrises since the Fox incident. Flower was now back at camp, in the healer's den.

''You've been very lucky, a fox can take down one full-size cat easily.'' Volefur Exclaimed. The tom was so old that nobody knew when he was born. He was also almost deaf.

''I don't think so! Look at my tail!''Flower sat down, pain flowing from every part of her body. She found it incredibly difficult to walk, and she had the Fox to thank for that.

''What?''

''Nevermind.''

''I don't understand what youngsters these days think is funny,'' Volefur trodded out of the den, presumably going to get some catnip.

Flower stumbled after him. ''Wait! When can I start training again?'' The brown tom kept walking through.

The hollow seemed to be spinning, she limped to the apprentice's den and laid down on her moss nest. At least her wounds had healed.

_What about Parsley? _Flower knew nothing about the peculiar cat who helped her. Why was he living in a den underground like a hare?

''I'm a rouge trespassing on your territory, what would you do?'' Ice bared his teeth at Flower lunged towards her. The smaller, agile cat flipped around just in time. The two cats sparred until they heard a voice.

''Ice! Don't expose your belly like that, if you were fighting an enemy they wouldn't wait for you to get back on your feet. Poppypetal, his mentor mewed to him. ''Look at Owlstrike and me.''

The more experienced cats moved quicker and knew what they were doing. Owlstrike, with his claws sheathed, jumped from behind Poppypetal. He rolled to his left, just missing her attempt to claw at him.

The tabby nodded and turned to face Flower. ''That's enough for today. let us try and hunt something before we get back to camp.'' Said Poppypetal. _Will doing this ever be the same?_

As they started to depart to go into the forest, Flower felt anxious. Owlstrike had run for a patrol as soon as he saw the Fox, assuming Flower was with him. She wasn't. Now her mentor had tried to ignore her tail injuries during battle practice. He was just trying to treat her like a normal apprentice, but her mother Fernfeather held a grudge with him ever since.

Ice flicked his tail to Flowers' shoulder. ''The fox is gone now,'' He mewed calmly. Flower realised he had probably forgotten the time about the feather fight.

''Flower, what do you smell?'' Owlstrike looked out into the forest. Flower cast her gaze on a small moving bush. ''A mouse.'' She whispered.

''Go on, get it then.''

The black cat crouched low to the ground, disguising her black pelt with the long grass. She stalked through the grasses, and then leapt onto the mouse, only to slip and fall, scaring the prey.

''You tried.'' Owlstrike was clearly not impressed.

**Review if you want! :)**


	6. On hold (

Oh. mah. cheese. 100 views? Thank you for reading! Did you realise that this was some old writing I did three years ago? I guess not! :) I'll try and get some more chapters, but I think there are only seven.

IM A HUMAN BEING AND WILL BE BUSY FROM NOW ON!

:)))


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